Over the past three years, I have been designing an Internationally-Minded model of education for use in German Public Schools. I have been fortunate enough to have been granted access to many classrooms at both Primary and Secondary level in the Ulm area. One of the key recommendations of my model will be that German Public Schools need to institute an Inquiry approach to learning. Aside from developing 21st century skills in students, #PBL encourages solidarity in ethnically diverse classrooms through participation in group activities and exploring multiple perspectives. And German classrooms are increasingly diverse. In Ulm’s largest Primary School, Grundschule am Tannenplatz, Germans are now the second largest ethnic group (14.5%), ahead of Turks (11.8%) but far behind Russians (25%). There are 19 declared nationalities represented at the school. This is now a familiar pattern in Primary Schools in German urban areas. Unfortunately, ethnic cliquing and unwillingness to collaborate, reinforced by a sole reliance on Direct Instruction, is also a familiar sight.

Seats arranged for Direct Instruction in an Ulm school - Not Grundschule am Tannenplatz

Over three days during the last weekend before Christmas, when the majority of students had abandoned the University of Augsburg for their well-earned holidays, 14 student teachers participated in a Seminar on Internationally-Minded Education. In doing so, they became the first group of students ever at the University to learn how to implement #PBL. They learned by doing.

We selected a pre-prepared Unit of Inquiry, “Community Photojournalists” from PBLU.org which you can find here. The project was designed around the guiding question “How can I tell an interesting story that helps people understand my community?” As a group we simply aligned the project rubrics to suit the Bavarian Curriculum and the rest of the plan was followed without significant alteration. The project was based on BIE’s “8 Essential Elements of PBL”:

1.Significant Content2.21st Century Competencies3.In-Depth Inquiry4.Driving Question5.Need to Know6.Voice and Choice7.Revision and Reflection8.Public Audience.

Groups were carefully chosen only after building whole-group rapport through a series of team-building activities and a whole-group reflection on how best to distribute students with skills relevant to the project. We deviated from the script to experiment with Visible Thinking routines. When students brainstormed their individual topics, they made their work visible to the whole group and to classroom visitors by completing a “Chalk-Talk” which was then displayed on a specially-prepared “Process Wall”. Introducing students to the concept of Photojournalism by analysing Time’s Lightbox and BagNews provided an ideal opportunity to conduct a “See/Think/Wonder” routine.

Students experiment with Visible Thinking routines

Step 7: “Revision and Reflection” provided a perfect opportunity for students to experiment with feedback routines. They all conducted a “Two Stars and a Wish” routine. Here, individuals acted as critical friends to their teammates. They read one another’s texts and gave two “stars”, or positive pieces of feedback linked directly to grading rubrics, and a “wish”, or an area for improvement. For this routine, I demanded that they use exact wording – “I am awarding your first star for…”. Even those who thought it rather pedantic were surprised by how much more willing they were to take feedback from a peer when it was worded positively. In this case @GeoffPetty’s “Medal and Mission” routine would also be ideal with its focus on forward-looking and positive criteria-related feedback.

By Sunday evening, though students were only given 27 hours to complete the entire Seminar, they had managed to publish their artefacts on the Seminar website eoinlenihan.com. Though this project was actually designed for Primary School students, because of the universal appeal of the topic and flexibility of #PBL, these University students came away from the weekend with a sense that something truly special had occurred. They felt as if they had learned valuable 21st Century skills and they certainly felt more connected to their University. You can see their work in progress and final artefacts here.

More importantly, it is now undeniable that Germany is, after decades of mass immigration and failed integration policies, at a crossroads as a society. In classrooms dominated by Direct Instruction, there are almost no authentic opportunities given to pupils to develop a shared sense of identity or sense of commitment to their local community. These classrooms are narrowly focused on academic achievement, little else. It is time for all Germans to demand more from their school system. A stable future depends upon it. These 14 student teachers are committed to ensuring just such a future by developing an Internationally-Minded classroom culture driven by student Inquiry.

Thank you for reading and commenting Geoff! I am excited to try out more of your routines with this Seminar in the future. I think PBL fortified by feedback and reflection routines that are supported by evidence is a powerful combination.

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Eoin Lenihan

Creating a Model for Internationally-Minded Education in Public Schools.